The Stray
by faery pink sparkle
Summary: For Kagome Higurashi, life as a high school student was quite mediocre - the same thing day in and day out. So she needed something to get her out of the rut she was in. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for, but she was determined to find it! And find it she will... in the most unexpectedly places, of course.
1. Chapter 1 - Routine Life

**Disclaimer: **I do not own InuYasha

**Author's Note: **This is my first attempt at an AU InuYasha fic. I hope it isn't too awful _ This fic is currently a budding idea, so who knows where the story will take me :) Hopefully you enjoy it. Please R&R!

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**The Stray**

**Chapter One – Routine Life**

A cool breeze had swept through the area, which was a welcome relief from the scorching summer sun. Kagome Higurashi had gone out to do some grocery shopping for her mother and was now on her way home. Being the last week of summer vacations, she had wanted to do as many activities as possible. She didn't want to go back to school feeling like the holidays had been wasted. So while today was going to be spent at home helping her grandfather around the Higurashi Shrine and helping her mother with the housework, tomorrow had to be another story. It had to be more than today.

The brunette trudged up the steps of the Shrine, not wanting to look up, knowing that she would feel like she was climbing Mt. Everest to see so many steps before her. And the grocery bags full of food and necessities were certainly not making it any easier in the heat. So even though Kagome was wearing a pastel green summer dress, she could feel the sweat starting to cover her body, making the dress stick to her.

_Definitely going to have a nice cool shower_, she thought to herself, thinking of the bliss she would feel to have the cool water running down her body.

As she reached the top of the steps, she was greeted by their chubby house cat, Buyo who purred at her arrival.

"Hi Buyo," Kagome greeted with a huff as she adjusted the weight of her shopping bags between her hands. Buyo stared at her for a moment, but as he got no rubs from his human, he lazily walked away, finding shade under the great Goshinboku – a Sacred Tree that stood like a monument on the Shrine grounds.

"Whatever," Kagome muttered under her breath, making her way to the main house, thankful to be under its cover from the sun.

Once inside, she made her way through the house and into the kitchen where she found her grandfather peeking into the fridge.

"Oh good," he greeted as his granddaughter placed the shopping bags on the kitchen table, "I was just looking for something to snack on." Her grandfather began to peek through the bags while she started to put things away in their rightful place.

"You can have a banana if you want," Kagome handed him a bunch. She was always trying to promote healthy eating for him, especially since he was getting so old. But he was stubborn. And if they weren't careful, they'd find him gorging on potato chips or sweet biscuits or something along those lines. "Otherwise you'll just have to wait for Mama to get back and see what she cooks for dinner," she added and heard some grumbling from the old man after he failed to find anything to his liking.

"Should go grocery shopping myself…" he muttered under his breath, as usual, and he hobbled away to the living room. Kagome shook her head in dismay as she put away the last of the groceries, and grabbed the toiletries to put into the bathroom.

Once she had put away the toiletries, she slipped out of her sweaty clothes, turned on the shower to just the right temperature and then stepped inside. As soon as the spray of water hit her body she felt a cool relief.

Even though it was hot outside, Kagome always got restless at home too quickly. But maybe that was because her life was too routine – wake up, school, home, sleep, wake up, school, home sleep. Mix in a bit of housework, shrine duties, and some weekend outings to the mall or movies with her best friend Sango and her boyfriend Miroku, and that was pretty much all there was to her life. But even then, her meetings with Sango outside of school were becoming less and less now that she had Miroku to spend time with. Kagome was happy for the two, but she was just a bit sad that she didn't get to spend as much time with her as she'd like. Especially since it felt so awkward seeing Miroku grope Sango in some inappropriate places. Being called a third wheel felt like such an understatement whenever she was with those two!

Kagome sighed as she scrubbed herself clean. She had thought that maybe getting a boyfriend would change things for her, but there wasn't anyone she was interested in. And the only guy that was keen on her was Hojo, and she could only ever see him as friend.

That's why Kagome was extremely determined to make the most of the last of her summer holidays. Otherwise she'd go crazy being cooped up at home.

_Maybe I'll go to the beach…_ she pondered while she washed the shampoo out of her hair. _But it won't be any fun to go alone… Or maybe I can convince Sango to have a girl's night – we can spend the day together and she can sleep over like we used to do.._ _If worse comes to worst, I could always invite Sango _and _Miroku to hang out… _

Kagome finished rinsing and turned off the shower before she got wrinkly from staying inside for too long, _Or maybe I'll just get a part time job. There are always heaps of vacancies at shops and restaurants… _That would certainly keep her occupied.

She dried herself off with a towel and slipped into her white cotton robe. Kagome made her way to her bedroom, where she promptly took the robe off to replace it with a yellow singlet and pastel blue shorts. Now that she was in more comfortable clothes, she lay herself down on her bed and closed her eyes.

_All I want is a bit of excitement_, she thought as she rolled onto her side to find her comfy position, _Just a bit of excitement to get me through the rest of high school, and then university if I get in.. Something to keep me going before I really do have to become an adult._

Kagome soon found her thoughts scattering, until she was no longer thinking of anything at all. And with her mind blank, it wasn't long before she drifted into a quiet nap.

It hadn't felt like she had been asleep that long before her mother came knocking on her bedroom door to let her know that dinner was ready. But Kagome spent a few more minutes in bed waking up. She vaguely remembered that she had been dreaming about finishing highscool and instead of going to study at university to study journalism, she had taken over the shrine duties and had become a priestess.

_What a silly dream_, Kagome thought with a lopsided grin to herself as she finally got out of bed and headed to the dining room for dinner. As much as she loved the shrine, she couldn't really imagine herself being a priestess.

"Did you have a good nap?" Kagome's mother greeted her, scooping out rice for everyone at the table.

"Mmhmm.." Kagome replied as she took her seat. Once the aromas of the various dishes before her filled her nostrils, it was as if her stomach had suddenly woken up and was growling in hunger in response. "The food looks delicious," she added and smiled at her mother. Dinner at the Higurashi household was always a treat since her mother liked to cook something to suit everyone's tastebuds. So laid out before them was chicken karaage – for her, curry for her brother, Souta, and agedashi tofu for her mother.

"There's chocolate pudding for dessert," her brother beamed. Even her grandfather was happy – but that would be because it was for him. Kagome just hoped that it wasn't too sugary. Though knowing her mother, it was as healthy as it could possibly be.

"Thanks for doing the grocery shopping for me today," her mother said gratefully as she passed her daughter a bowl of rice, "I didn't think I was going to be held up at work like that."

"That's ok," Kagome replied as she grabbed a few pieces of chicken and started to eat, satisfying her grumbling tummy.

"I was hoping you could make a quick trip down to the pharmacy," Kagome's mother added hastily, actually looking quite hopeful, "Your grandfather says he's been feeling a bit sick in the stomach, so he'll be needing those special tablets that help with the gas."

Kagome felt a twinge of annoyance at the thought of having to make another trip and she frowned slightly, but she reasoned with herself – it wasn't that far from home, maybe a 15 minute walk if she wasn't dawdling, and she was the only one her mother could rely on.

"Sure thing," she replied with a quick smile to help reassure her mother that she was ok to run such a late errand. Kagome looked out the kitchen window to see that it was twilight already. If she didn't hurry, the pharmacy might close and it'd be such a waste of a trip. "I'll head off now then and just re-heat my meal later."

"Thanks sweetheart," her mother said appreciatively, "Be careful."

Kagome grabbed her wallet and house keys on her way out the door, and headed into the night.

Kagome barely made it in time. The pharmacy was closing in 10 minutes. She asked the pharmacy attendant for some help to speed up the process rather than wandering around trying to find the right medicine.

Once she was out, she decided not to rush and just enjoy a quiet stroll back home, happy knowing that she didn't have school the following day_. I'll have to message Sango tonight and ask her if she's free tomorrow… _she thought silently.

Kagome unconsciously started to hum a little melody to herself as she slowly started to zone out. But she was abruptly brought back to reality when she heard rustling in the bushes up ahead of her. She stopped in her tracks, starting to feel uneasy walking alone at night. Thankfully the bushes were situated under a street light, so if there was someone there, she wouldn't be caught by surprise. Ominously, the street light started flicker and the bush rustled again.

"It's probably just a cat," she tried to reassure herself in a hushed tone, cautiously continuing on her way home. Just to be on the safe side, Kagome had her wallet ready in hand to throw at any attacker. It may not be a deadly weapon, but it would distract an attacker long enough for her to make a run for it.

The bush had stopped moving, so she was going to make a sprint for it. And just as Kagome was about to run ahead, the bush rustled once more and a little white fluffy dog popped out in front of her. Upon seeing her, the little creature wagged its tail excitedly and bounded towards her.

Kagome let out a sigh of relief, not realizing she had been holding her breath. The dog had made it to Kagome and had jumped up onto her legs, so she bent down and squatted to be closer to its level.

She rubbed it behind its ears, and it gave a little yip of contentment making Kagome giggle in return. Now that she knew it was just a dog, the world seemed to return to its normal state of being 'safe'.

"Are you all by yourself?" she asked it, then looked around for any sign of its owner. But it was just the two of them.

Kagome moved her hand from its ears to its neck in search of a collar. And underneath all that white fluff, she felt the thing she was looking for. Using her other hand, she pushed away some of the soft fur and found herself looking at a deep red collar with a silver name tag.

"Tetsu," she tested out the name, and the dog replied with rapid tail wagging that Kagome found endearing. "Well Testu," the young girl continued as she gave it another pat, "Your owner doesn't seem to be around, so it looks like you'll be staying at my place tonight."

Kagome gave Testu a reassuring grin and picked it up gingerly in her arms, and it gave her a quick lick on the cheek in response. There was no struggle from the little being, which made it easier for her. And it was much much lighter than Buyo – Kagome couldn't even remember the last time she had carried her own little furball.

_Buyo…_ Kagome trailed off mentally as she shifted Tetsu in her arms, to get a more comfortable hold on the dog, _I hope you two get along.. _

"It's a little bit late, so you can stay at my house tonight," she spoke to Tetsu conversationally, receiving a happy bark in reply, "Tomorrow, I'll take you back here and we can knock on people's houses and see if we can find your owner, ok?"

Tetsu nuzzled into the nook of Kagome's cradling arms, seeming to be ready for sleep_. Such a cutie.._ Kagome smiled softly at the bundle she was holding. Her family was definitely going to be surprised that she had picked up a stray. Hopefully her mother wouldn't be too angry about it. _It's only temporary anyway_, Kagome reassured herself.

It wasn't too much longer before she reached the bottom of the Shrine steps, and Tetsu was snoozing peacefully in her arms. She tried to be quick and smooth in her steps, wanting to get back indoors. Her mother had kept one of the outside lights on for her return, which Kagome appreciated, careful not to trip over herself.

She quietly entered the house. There was no one around, thankfully, but the kitchen light was still on, which meant that Kagome's mother wasn't done in here yet. Kagome left the medicine on the kitchen counter for her mother to find. She had done her part and gotten the medicine from the pharmacy, getting her grandfather to take it was not her problem. She had bigger and more important things to worry about. She grabbed an old newspaper from the dining table as she passed it on the way upstairs.

Kagome took Testu to her room and gently placed the sleeping dog at the bottom of the bed. Testu shifted slightly, but remained asleep. So Kagome quietly rummaged through her drawers for a spare towel that she could lay out for it on the floor. She quickly grabbed a bowl of water from the kitchen and placed that by the towel on the floor. She laid out a few sheets of newspaper on the floor as well, hoping for all she was worth that the dog was toilet trained. Food was another matter entirely, but she would have to worry about that tomorrow.

Kagome moved Testu onto the floor and got ready for bed herself. She snuggled under the covers, leaving her nightlight on so that she could keep an eye on Tetsu during the night. The little white dog grumbled in its sleep and Kagome smiled warmly at the sight.

She didn't know how her mother would take it once she found out in the morning that there was a temporary addition to the family, and she didn't know how easy it would be to find the owner tomorrow. But one thing was certain – by picking up this stray, Kagome had broken out of the routine of her life, if only for a moment, and she was going to enjoy the ride it would take her on. Hanging out with Sango and Miroku would have to wait.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep with hope in her heart that tomorrow would be a better day.

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**Author's Note:** How was it? I look forward to Kagome's encounter with Tetsu's owner. Keep an eye out for it! Chapter Two - Testu's Owner will hopefully be uploaded within the next week or so :) Thanks guys!


	2. Chapter 2 - Tetsu's Owner

**Author's Note: **I was in such a rush to post the chapter, I completely forgot to add in my author's note _ Hope you enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own InuYasha

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**Chapter Two – Testu's Owner **

Kagome woke up with Testu licking away at her face happily. The dark haired girl groaned as she sat up, the little pup falling onto her lap. She looked at her bedside clock and it blinked back at her: 8.47AM. The alarm would have gone off in another 13 minutes, so it wasn't too bad to be woken up be Tetsu. The white dog barked at her, then jumped back down and headed for the door where it started to scratch at it with an occasional whine.

"Alright already," Kagome replied as she stretched her arms over her head and let herself wake up a bit more. She quickly did a scan of her room to see that everything was still intact and there didn't seem to be any accidents on the floor either. "Good," she said to herself, and Testu replied with another whine. Thank goodness her mother was out to work and her grandfather was hard of hearing.

Kagome hurried out of bed and picked up Testu. She peered out of her room to make sure the coast was clear, then headed to the laundry to grab the leash and they had once gotten for Buyo when Souta thought it would be funny to try take him for walks.

Testu didn't seem to mind being put on a leash, and soon they were both outside. Kagome took Testu to the small backyard they had behind the house where her mother had once tried to grow their own herbs. It didn't last long because everyone was too busy to tend to it, but the grass remained and didn't need to much maintenance except for a cut every now and then.

The little dog did its business and had a bit of a walk around while Kagome kept it on a leash to prevent it from running off. How terrible it would be to lose a lost dog!

"If you're done, we're going back inside so I can get dressed properly. Then I can take you back to where I found you, and hopefully we can find your owner. I'm sure they're worried sick about you," Kagome told the little one and gave it a small tug to get it walking with her. Testu titled its head and just looked at her quizzically for a moment before following her obediently.

Kagome and Testu made their way back indoors and on their way up to the bedroom, she nearly knocked over her little brother.

"Watch where you're going," Souta glared at his sister as he stepped back, then his eyes quickly darted to the little animal attached to Kagome. "Is that a dog?"

Kagome picked Testu up in her arms, "Yes it is. Tetsu happens to be a stray I found last night. And we're going to go find his owner today, aren't we?" Kagome looked down at Tetsu and rubbed behind his ears gently.

"Does mom know you have a new pet?"

"It's not mine, Souta," Kagome replied with exaggerated exasperation, "Weren't you listening?"

Souta shrugged and eyed the dog, "You think it would eat Buyo? Or would Buyo eat it instead?"

"Sometimes I don't know what goes on in that head of yours," the older sister shook her head in dismay, "Now if you don't mind, I have important things to do." She sidestepped her brother and went back to her room.

When Kagome put Testu on the floor and took him off the leash, he went to the water bowl and had a small drink. Kagome went to her wardrobe and started to pull out the clothes she was going to wear for the day – a pair of jean shorts and a pastel yellow cotton shirt. When she turned back. Tetsu had jumped up onto her bed and was stretched out on his stomach across her bedcover.

"If you weren't so cute, you'd be in big trouble," she told the dog with a grin, and promptly got dressed.

Kagome packed her wallet, mobile phone, house keys and bottle of water into a small handbag, checked herself in the mirror one last time, then grabbed the leash once more. Testu happily obliged when she put the leash back on and the two headed out again.

They left the Higurashi Shrine without any more interruptions.

It was still fairly early in the day, so the sun was still in the process of bearing down with its unbearably hot rays. It didn't help that the skies were a crystal clear blue.

"We'll try to be quick about this," Kagome told Tetsu as they walked down the street. But as she said this, she realized that it may be easier said than done. Her mother was at work, which meant that other people would be at work too. So there was a a high chance that she'd be knocking on the doors of empty houses. _I'll just have to make a list of the houses I've seen…_ Kagome sighed heavily, understanding that she had taken on a big responsibility by temporarily adopting the dog. But it had to be done_. If today's a bust, then maybe I'll make posters tonight to put up around the neighbourhood tomorrow.._ Kagome started to plan a few steps ahead, _And if that doesn't come up with anything, then I guess I'll have to drop Tetsu off at the animal shelter._ She frowned at that thought, she never did like the animal shelter. The dogs were always crying for attention and it was normally for dogs that had been abandoned by their owners. Surely they hadn't abandoned little Tetsu?

Kagome stopped three blocks away from where she had found Testu and mentally prepared herself for some door knocking. She was really hoping that at least a few people were home – even if they weren't the owner of Tetsu, they might actually know who he belonged to.

She was about to go to the first house but stopped when her phone text message alert went off.

**Hey! I feel like we haven't seen each other in ages! Are you free today? –San**

Kagome couldn't decide if she should be happy that Sango had thought of her or annoyed that it took her this long to get in touch. Kagome texted back..

**Hi :)** **Sorry, but I'm busy today. I do want to catch up though! I'll call you tonight. Tell Miroku I said hi. - Kag**

She put her phone back into her bag and started her mission.

Kagome spent nearly an hour knocking on doors. Approximately 75 percent of the houses she went to were empty so she assumed the owners were at work or somewhere else. The rest of the house-owners she saw told her that the dog wasn't theirs and didn't even recognize it as a neighbourhood dog. It was very hard to imagine that Tetsu had managed to wander from one neighbourhood to another. She was really hoping that today had been more fruitful. Now she'd have to take Tetsu back home and let her mother know about the temporary addition to the household.

"Sorry Tetsu," she apologized with a sigh, "We'll have to try again tomorrow." The little dog simply wagged its tail as it walked next to her.

It was nearly eleven in the morning, which meant it would be time to eat soon. Kagome was glad to have brought her wallet. It would have been good to find Tetsu's owner, so then she wouldn't have to worry about getting it dog food. But now he'd be with her a bit longer and she didn't have anything to feed it.

It was a bit of a walk to the supermarket, but Kagome had no other choice. She tied Tetsu to the bike stand just outside and hoped that he didn't escape and that no one tried to take him. She'd never owned a dog before, so she wasn't sure what to worry about and what not to worry about.

"Be good, and stay put," she told Tetsu before heading inside.

There were so many choices of dog food, she didn't know what to get! In the end, she went for the cheapest option, rationalizing that it was a temporary stay so she didn't need to splurge on him. The smallest bag of dry dog food she could get was 3kg, so it was going to be a pain to lug back home.

When she exited the supermarket, she saw Testu perk up at her reappearance. He yipped at her excitedly and wagged his tail vigorously. He was starting to get restless so she wasted no time in untying him from the stand.

"I know you're hungry, but you'll have to wait til we get home ok?" Kagome said to him, her own tummy grumbling. She thought of the leftovers in the fridge and her mouth watered, a testament to how hungry she actually was. She could only imagine how hungry the little creature was.

Half an hour later, they were back at home and Kagome was preparing lunch for herself, Souta and Tetsu.

"Where'd gramps go?" Kagome asked her little brother.

"Think he said he was going to take a nap in his room," Souta replied as he played with Tetsu ears at the dinner table. Tetsu seemed to love all the attention he was getting. "So are we keeping it?" he asked his sister and looked up at her expectantly.

"Don't count on it," Kagome replied as she started to re-heat their meals in the microwave, "If you're not busy, you can help me make posters to put up. If we still can't find Tetsu's owner, we'll have to drop him off at the shelter."

"I guess so," he replied, not really minding helping his sister later since he had nothing better to do anyway, "Did you tell mom yet? Buyo might not like him."

They hadn't seen Buyo all day so he was probably lounging on the roof, which was just fine with Kagome – it meant one less worry for her.

"I'll probably message her just before she finishes work.. I don't want her to worry too much while she's still got so much time left at work." Kagome laid out the food on the table, and Souta put Tetsu on the floor.

"Go wash your hands before you start eating," Kagome ordered her brother. He sighed begrudgingly but did what he was told. While he was gone, Kagome put some dog food into a shallow bowl for Tetsu and put it down next to a water bowl that was on a few sheets of newspaper she had laid out earlier to minimize the mess he might make. The little dog was soon in a food frenzy. She didn't think such a little animal could eat so quickly – Tetsu seemed to be guzzling down the food so fast she couldn't tell if he was even chewing properly. Testu either really loved food, was amazingly hungry or both. Kagome laughed.

"What's so funny?" Souta asked when he returned to his seat and got ready to eat.

"In the minute it took you go wash your hands, Tetsu has pretty much finished his food."

Souta turned to look at the dog and sure enough, Testu was licking up the remnants in the bowl before he started to sniff around it to check if he had dropped any on the floor.

"Well eat up," Kagome continued, "We'll be needing lots of energy if we're going to be putting posters up around the neighbourhood."

Souta rolled his eyes. "Itadakimasu," he said aloud and then dug in, Kagome following suit.

While the siblings were eating, Tetsu had taken a position by Kagome's feet and looked up at her expectantly, waiting to be fed some more, only looking away when he sniffed the ground whenever he thought Kagome had dropped some food. Tetsu remained like that for their entire meal.

"How many of these are we making?" Souta asked as he stroked a sleeping Tetsu in his lap. Souta was sitting on the bed, watching his sister print out the poster she had created just before. It read: FLUFFY WHITE DOG FOUND – TETSU. PLS VISIT HIGURASHI SHRINE TO PICK UP. BRING DOG REGISTRATION CERT FOR ID. And there was a a black and white picture of Testu that Kagome had taken using her phone which she transferred to her computer to add to the poster.

"I don't know," Kagome shrugged as she added some final touches and then saved the document, "Maybe 50? That should be plenty right?"

Souta never replied, so Kagome clicked the print button regardless.

"Don't forget to tell mom," Souta reminded her as the sound of the printer working away filled the air.

"Thanks for the reminder," Kagome nodded and grabber her phone from her bag.

There was one new message waiting for her: **Sure! I'll speak to you later then xo –San**

Kagome didn't bother to reply to that one, making a mental note to call her best friend later. She quickly composed a short message to her mother: **Hi mom, found a stray dog. Will have to stay with us for a day or so. Buyo is fine. Going to find owner. See you at home. Love Kag.** She pressed send before she changed her mind.

Her phone beeped almost immediately after she sent the text message.

"That was fast," Souta noted, "Is it mom?"

Kagome felt a bit uneasy, expecting the worst reply possible. Instead, it read: **Sure honey. Make sure it has plenty of water. Did you get food for it? Want me to get something on the way home?**

She showed Souta the message with a smile on her face, relief washing over her. That was one of her biggest worries gone.

"That's good," her little brother said simply, a bit of boredom seeping into his voice.

"The printing should be done soon," Kagome informed her brother as she sent a reply back to her mom: **All good. Don't worry about us. See you when you get back :)**

"Are we going to put the posters out today?" Souta asked, watching the printer finish up.

"May as well, I suppose. We can take Tetsu for another walk, and then on the way home we'll grab a snack. Sound good?"

Souta mumbled some sort of response that she took as an ok. Kagome looked at her clock again – 1.53PM. In a few hours, people would be getting back from work. So if they put up the posters now, there was a good chance the owner would see it. The only issue was that they'd have to cover more ground since her search this morning came up with nothing.

"Come on Souta," Kagome urged, feeling the motivation to get Tetsu back to his owner, " We'll have lots of ground to cover, so we better head off now."

Souta complied and woke Tetsu up gently. The little dog was so disoriented and still a bit groggy that Souta had to half drag the mutt out the door. But once they reached the top of the shrine steps, Tetsu seemed more awake. With Testu a bit livelier, Souta hurried to catch up to his sister.

"Hopefully we covered all the right places," Souta said and took a bite of his chocolate and banana crepe Kagome had so generously bought for him as a small thank you for his help.

They were sitting on a park bench that was covered quite nicely by a big shady tree, its leaves rustling in the occasional breeze. They did try to cover as big an area as possible since they had no idea where Tetsu came from. The siblings even went to the pharmacy, supermarket and a couple of other local stores and asked if they could put their poster up to increase their chances of finding Tetsu's owner. Everyone was more than happy to help.

"I hope so too," Kagome agreed, eating her own strawberry and chocolate flavoured crepe. Testu was, of course, looking at their food longingly, but was quietly waiting at their feet, being tied to the bench.

Kagome pulled out her phone to look at the time. _3.45PM.. People will be coming home soon…_ she thought as she took the last bite of her crepe. "We better start heading back," she told Souta, and waited for him to finish eating before throwing their rubbish out in the nearby bin, "People will start heading home soon, so we've got to be home before the owner comes by to get Testu."

"Lead the way," Souta said, taking hold of Testu's leash and following his older sister out of the park. The three of them hurried back home without delay.

Kagome collapsed onto their living room couch with a loud exhale. Their little group had rushed home to make sure that they got back before someone came to claim Testu. Souta had resumed his afternoon activities by turning on his game console and had started to play one of his many fighting games. Sometimes, Kagome had no idea where he got his energy from. And she wasn't even that much older than him! Their grandfather was now roaming around the shrine grounds, doing a bit of sweeping without putting too much pressure on his back.

_I should probably go and help him…_ Kagome sighed heavily, lifting herself out of her slump, _Otherwise I'll get a lecture for sure_. She'd normally get her brother to do some chores as well, but he had already come out to help her with the posters, so she decided to let him off the hook for the rest of the day.

"I'm going to go help Gramps," Kagome told her brother, though her words seemed to fall on deaf ears. "Souta!" Kagome tried again, adding a bit of volume to her voice.

"Yeah," he grunted in her general direction. "Arrgh!" he exclaimed in frustration when the screen announced that he had been defeated and asked if he wanted to continue, "Now I have to start all over again."

Kagome rolled her chocolate coloured eyes, "You can continue from where you left off, stop being a sore loser."

Souta glared at his older sister as she walked away. "Keep an eye on Testu for me," she called back to him, and he glanced at the sleeping dog on the floor next to him.

"It's not the same thing," Souta muttered under his breath as he restarted the arcade mode he was playing, "I want to win without losing a single game..".

Kagome found her grandfather by the Goshinboku with a broomstick in had elderly hands, sweeping away.

"Need a hand?" Kagome offered as she approached him, "You can take a break and I can finish up, if you want."

"I'm perfectly fine to sweep," her grandfather replied proudly, then promptly gave her the broom. "But I don't want to be rude by declining your offer though, have to set a good example for my grandkids."

"Of course you do," Kagome agreed with a nod as she took over the cleaning duties, indulging her grandfather's nonsense.

"You missed a spot," he observed and pointed randomly at place on the ground before he chuckled to himself and left her alone, disappearing into the house. Kagome let that one slide – no point in arguing with an old man going senile.

The young girl did a bit more sweeping before deciding that the shrine was looking pretty clean. It couldn't be helped if there were a few stray leaves here and there, she couldn't control nature after all.

Kagome was about to return the broomstick to the small tool shed they had on their property when she heard a person groan from behind her.

"Far out! Those steps are a nightmare!"

She turned around to see a guy with long white hair who looked to be about her age wearing a bright red hakama and haori. Her first thought was the idea of how hot it would be to wear something like that in this heat, followed by the bewilderment of not having seen that sort of clothing for quite a while now.

"May I help you?" Kagome asked the stranger before her.

The guy gave a little huff to catch his breath and looked directly at her for the first time. Kagome's heart caught in her throat when she saw herself looking into amber pools that had a hard edge to them.

"Is this the Higurashi Shrine?" he asked her abruptly, and approached her, closing the gap between them until they were only a few feet away from one another.

"It is…" she replied warily. It wasn't often they received visitors of his type, so who knew what he wanted? _Unless, he's Tetsu's owner?_ she wondered to herself as she eyed him, _Certainly doesn't look the type_. How on earth could a sweet little dog like Tetsu belong to a rough-around-the–edges type of person? Though she had to admit, it would be pretty endearing if that really was the case. It would mean that the guy in front of her, though a little bit intimidating, was actually a softie on the inside. _Like a big teddy bear_, Kagome giggled, lost in her own little world as she contemplated the possibilities.

"Are you deaf?" he snapped at her, waving a hand in front of her face, finally getting her attention.

"S-sorry?" Kagome had turned a deep red, feeling like kicking herself for making herself look like an idiot in front of him. She'd have to curb this daydreaming-in-front-of-other-people habit of hers.

"I asked if you had my dog, Testu?" he repeated himself for the third time, his eyes flashing in annoyance for having to do so.

"I-I do!" Kagome nodded furiously. "I'm Kagome Higurashi," she introduced herself with a quick bow, "I'm so glad you came. I found Tetsu last night when there was no one around, so I took him home."

"So you _stole_ him?" he raised an eyebrow questioningly, making Kagome blush further, though a smirk played on his lips. He looked like he was enjoying Kagome's awkwardness.

"I did not!" Kagome exclaimed indignantly, "It was too late to go door knocking and I couldn't see anyone nearby so I decided to let him stay with me temporarily until I found his owner. So before I can hand him over to you, do you have the registration form?"

"Registration form?" he unconsciously tilted his head slightly to one side quizzically. Kagome could almost picture little dog ears on him, much like Testu.

"You would have gotten a registration form when you bought the dog. How else am I supposed to know that you're actually who you're claiming to be? And you haven't even introduced yourself to me," Kagome replied quite flatly.

"I know his name is Tetsu, isn't that good enough?"

"You must have seen the poster I put up right? I specifically asked for the form. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back with it."

"You've got to be kidding me," he said exasperatedly.

"Not at all," Kagome purposely flashing him a bright smile, which infuriated him further.

He glared at her with his amber orbs, and they seemed to flare with annoyance. Kagome felt her smile falter. _Maybe I'm being too picky… He did know Testu's name after all…_ Kagome lost herself in thought once more,_ And as rude as he may be, he's got to have some nice in him if he owns a puppy._

Kagome snapped out of her reverie to find that the guy was already leaving, she could see the top of his white head disappearing down the stairs. She ran after him, stopping at the top of the steps.

"Where are you going?!" she called out to him. He wasn't just abandoning Testu, was he?

He stopped to look back at Kagome, "You spaced out, so I left to get the stupid form you want. I'll be back later so he better be ready, got it?"

Kagome grinned at him, waving goodbye a she watched him leave the shrine grounds. When he came back for Tetsu, she wouldn't waste her second chance of getting to know him. After all, he hadn't even introduced himself properly. _He owes me his name at the very least_, she thought with a cheerful smile. She also wanted to ask about his choice of clothing. Kagome turned back and headed to the shed, broomstick in hand. He was definitely different – a strange, but welcome encounter. With any luck, maybe Kagome could even convince him to let her see Testu further down the track.

Kagome hummed happily to herself, going back inside to get Testu ready for his pick up.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thanks again for the support so far :) Please review, I'd like to get your feedback ^_^


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